MONTREAL—Canadians are about to see a lot more of themselves on screen, albeit scantily clad and perhaps in some compromising positions.

Or so promises the first homegrown Canadian adult-oriented entertainment TV channel, which went on the air Thursday at 10 p.m.

The Montreal-based cable network, called Vanessa, went live first with its French channel, with an English counterpart to follow next year.

Its focus is not hardcore, but rather the softer and more erotic side of sex. The channel will only show triple-X films after 11 p.m.

“There is nothing like this in Canada,” says Vanessa's content manager Pierre Thibeault. “It's the first time Canadians will be able to see themselves as much as they will.”

This will be the case not only in the films they put on air, Thibeault says, but in programs that “talk about sex” — reality series, for instance, or sitcoms.

Anne-Marie Losique, known as Quebec's “Queen of soft porn,” and also head of the production company Image Diffusion International, is the woman behind Vanessa. She promises that the new network will show at least 40 per cent homegrown content — double the amount than its carriage licence requires.

When asked whether Vanessa will be, as such, offering Canadians something they haven't seen before, a representative from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission replied, “That's fair to say.”

“We think the Canadian public wants to see nice girls and nice guys and intercourse, but also to be informed, to laugh,” Thibeault ventured.

Homegrown content will include a show on the life of female strippers, a lighthearted educational series on sex toys, Miss Nude Canada and Miss Quebec Nude. On the more risqué side, Vanessa's lineup includes a show involving Quebec porn actor BrunoB in explicit situations in public areas.

Other adult-oriented channels available in Canada include Penthouse TV and Hustler TV, which focus mostly on the hardcore.

The channel is also procuring dubbed versions of American offerings, such as the Lingerie Football League and some Playboy Channel shows, including the Alberta-made Boy Nexxt Door.

There will be some serious content as well; for example, a documentary on sex trafficking. “There will be documentaries on pleasure, and fantasies too,” Thibeault said.

Jason Danilak, president of Edmonton's Real Productions, which makes Boy Nexxt Door, had planned a channel similar to Vanessa but has since decided not to go ahead with the venture. “I think there definitely could be a demand for it,” Danilak said. “It will come down to their programming, if they show what people want to watch.”

Danilak firmly believes Canadians have a healthy appetite for Canadian content. “There's always an appeal to see something that's local, that you could go down to the supermarket and see that actual girl.”

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